Winona

English

Alternative forms

• Wenona, Wenonah, Wynona

Etymology

From Dakota winúŋna (“firstborn daughter”). While not originally used as a personal name by the Dakota, it has been adopted as such by English speakers.

John Koontz suggested that the name was a compound of wi- (“female”) + no (“first”) + -na (a diminutive suffix) and thus a reflex of Proto-Siouan *rǫ/*nǫ (“one”). That root is otherwise unattested in the Sioux languages, which use reflexes of *wį(y)ą (“one”) instead, and a more prosaic analysis identifies the first elements of the name with winyan (“woman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɪˈnoʊnə/
• Rhymes: -əʊnə
• Hyphenation: Wi‧no‧na

Proper noun

Winona

1. A female given name from Dakota, used mainly in the United States.
   • 2001, Julia Cameron, God Is No Laughing Matter:

     I've met the full Clairol spectrum of Winonas, and I have come to recognize them the way you might watch for pretty little coral snakes in Florida. Isn't that sweet? you think—until it bites you and you die. Just like those pretty little snakes, Winona talks in a sort of a soft and wispy hiss and tells you how confused she is […]

2. A city in Kansas
3. A city, the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota.
4. A city, the county seat of Montgomery County, Mississippi.
5. A city in Missouri
6. A town in Texas

Derived terms

• Winona Junction

Anagrams

• wanion